Ditching-machine.



No. 865,381. PATENTED SEPT. 10," 1907. G. C. GRIFFIN.

DITGHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 28. 1907.

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l w GeoiyeU. Witnesses al'l'ozpm THE zvo'Rms PETERS cm. WASHINGYGN, D.c.

No. 865,381. PATENTED SEPT. 10, 1907.

G. 0. GRI FI DITGHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 28. 1907.

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THE NoRRls PETERS co.. WASHINGYON, 0.1:

No. 865,381. PATENTED SEPT. 10, 1907. G. G. GRIFFIN. DITOHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 28. 1907..

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m E a a O m w a Q\ u m M a r c n n W m c s R z 1 s r n n R o u s m No.865,381. PATENTED SEPT. 10, 1907. G. C. GRIFFIN.

DITGHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 28, 1907.

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GEORGE CONRAD GRIFFIN, OF HOUSTON,

DIT CHING-MAGHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 10, 1907.

Application filed February 28,1907. Serial No. 35 9,809-

To ail whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE CONRAD GRIFFIN, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Houston, in the county of Harris and State of Texas,have invented a new and useful Ditching-Machine, of which the followingis a specification. 7

This invention has particular relation to that type of ditching machinesemployed in railroad work wherein shovels are drawn alongside a car, andmechanism is mounted on the car for raising and lowering the shovels. Atthe same time, there are perhaps features of this invention that areuseful in other analogous structures.

The type of ditching machine that has proven the most successful is thatwherein the shovels, scoops or buckets are suspended by chains or cablesthat are wound upon power-operated drums journaled on a supporting frameon the car. Heretofore, however, the shovels or buckets have beenmanually guided or directed by long poles projecting rearwardlytherefrom. In ordinary work, it requires the services of at least threepersons at each pole, besides a fourth to control the dumping actionfrom the car. The ditching ma chine therefore ordinarily requires theservices of a crew of eight men exclusive of the engineer and conductor.Further thanthis, the poles have proven extremely dangerous, so much sothat in many cases, it is practically impossible to secure workmen tohandle the same. For instance, suppose the shovels are being filled, andthe machine is being drawn forward, if the shovel strikes abnormalresistance, such as a stone or stump, it will quickly turn, and thusthrow the pole with great force. Now this pole is ordinarily thirteenfeet long, and it often happens that workmen have been thrown high intothe air or against an embankment, resulting in serious, and sometimesfatal injuries. Moreover to avoid this trouble as much as possible, ithas been necessary for the machine to be moved at a very slow speed,thus materially limiting its capacity.

The present invention has for its primary object the provision ofdirecting means, which will eliminate dangerous poles of the abovecharacter, as well as the necessity of the workmen to operate them, andfurthermore to so construct the mechanism that the speed, andconsequently the capac ty of the machine is greatly increased, whilesafety mechanism is provided that will eliminate all danger of breakingthe shovels or the operating mechanism should an obstruction beencountered.

The preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 2 is a rear elevationthereof. Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 33 of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 isa sectional view on the line 4-1 of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is a detail sectionalview of a portion-of the structure showing the guidesheave and drum forone of the shovels.

the same.

Similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts in all thefigures of the drawings.

In the embodiment of the invention illustrated, a portion of the car isdisclosed, of which the deck is designated 7. Upon the rear end of thiscar is rotatably mounted a suitable supporting frame 8, which includes across bar or beam 9 that projects beyond the main body of the frame, andhas its ends reinforced by braces 10. Upon the supporting frame isjournaled a shaft 11 having a central drum 12 and end drums 13. Shovels,scoops orbuckets 14, located on opposite sides of the car, have bails 15to which are connected chains 16 that are wrapped upon the end drums 13.A cable 17 is wrapped upon the central drum l2, and extends beneath aguide sheave 18 to the drum 19 of a suitable hoisting engine 20, locatedupon the front end of the car. Grade chains 21, connected to the frame,are adjustably connected to the inner sides of the shovels or buckets.Draft chains 22 are connected to the front ends of -the buckets orshovels and to a draft beam 23 mounted on the front portion of the car.

So far as described, the mechanism, with the exception of the cross beam9 and its braces 10, is well known in the prior art, and no furtherdescription is believed to be necessary, except to state that upon therotation of the drum 12 by the engine 20, through the medium of thecable 17, the buckets may be elevated, and if said cable is slackened,the buckets will drop. The novelty of the present invention resides moreparticularly in the means for directing these buckets and the disclosedconstruction has proven entirely satisfactory for this purpose. Inasmuchas the mechanism for each bucket or shovel is the same, a description ofone is believed to be entirely sufficient. .Iournaled on the projectingend of the beam 9 is a yoke 24, and pivotally mounted therein, is aguide element in the form of a collar 25. This collar thus haspractically universal movement. A guide stem preferably in the form of atubular rod 26, slidably passes through the collar, and has a universaljoint connection at its lower end with the rear end of the bucket. Thisconnection is preferably made by having the lower end of the stemprovided with a yoke 27 in which is pivotally mounted the upper end ofanother yoke 28 that is pivoted as shown at 29 to the car 30 of a collaror cap 31 secured to a bracket 32 fastened to the rear end of thebucket. Cables 33 are secured, as shown at 34 to the upper and lowerends of the guide stem 26, and pass around opposite sides of independentsheaves 35 journalecl in suitable brackets 36 carried by the ends of thecross beam. These cables are thus simultaneously movable in oppositedirections, and their inner ends are oppositely wrapped or wound upon adrum 37 that is carried by a shaft 38 journalod transversely in the sup-Fig. 6 is a plan view of gear wheel 48.

porting frame 8 and in a depending bracket 39 secured to the cross beam9. The shaft 38 is furthermore provided with a frictional hand brake andsafety device, consisting of a pulley or drum 40 and a band 41surrounding the same. One end of this band is secured as shown at 42,while the other end is connected to a lever 43fulcru1ned at one end onthe supporting frame 8 and having its other end offset as shown at 44 toprovide a seat for the operator. The shaft 38 is furthermore providedwith a gear wheel 45, and meshing therewith is a pinion 46 carried byanother shaft 47 journaled alongside the shaft 38 and having on itsinner end another Still another shaft 49 is located below the shaft 47,and has secured to one end, a hand wheel 50. Apinion 51,feathered uponthe shaft49 isinovable into and out of mesh with the gear wheel 48, andthis movement is secured by means of a lever 52 having a link connection53 with a yoke 54 that engages the hub of the pinion 51. Thus byswinging the lever 52, the pinion may be thrown into and out of meshwith the gear wheel and through the shaft 47, and gearing 4546, with thedrum.

With this machine, but one operator is necessary for each shovel andeach is stationed so as to control the band brake 4041, and inconvenient relation to the hand wheel 50. Under ordinary conditions, thehand Wheels are disconnected from the drums 37, as shown in Fig. 4, andthe direction of the shovels or buckets is accomplished solely by meansof the band brakes. Thus in raising and lowering the shovels or buckets,the band brakes are loosened and the drums 37 being freely revoluble,the stems will move up and down with the buckets. ln lowering thebuckets, however, the drums 37 are stopped by applying pressure to thebands 41 just before the buckets have reached their lowermost positions,immediately the stems 26 are stopped and the buckets may thus be made toassume slightly downward inclinations in order that they will properlydig into the earth. While in action, the operators have only to sit uponthe brake-controlling levers 43, and thus securely hold the buckets totheir Work. At the same time, if an obstruction is encountered, orabnormal resistance to the movement of the shovels is met with. beforebreakage occurs, the buckets will turn, raising the stems, and rotatingthe drums by overcoming the resistance of the band brakes. The brakestherefore act as safety devices to the buckets in addition to governingthe movements of the stems. As soon as the buckets or shovels areloaded, the brakes are released, and therefore upon the elevation ofsaid buckets or shovels, the stems will raise with them. Having reachedthe dump, to discharge the contents, it is only necessary to again brakethe drums 37 and lower the buckets, whereupon the front ends of thebucket will tilt downwardly, and the material will discharge therefrom.It will thus be evident that a workman skilled in the operation of themachine, can ordinarily direct his bucket by properly operating the bandbrake. If, however, through carelessness, inadvertence, or mistake, thebucket assumes awrong position, the operator can readily correct thesame by throwing the hand wheel into gear with the drum, and turningsaid drum, thereby raising or lowering the same, and consequentlytilting the bucket, as desired. This manually operated mechanism is alsoconvenient in connecting the stems to the buckets or disconnecting themtherefrom in assembling the parts.

1t will thus be seen that simple mechanism of a novel nature isprovided, by means of which a single workman can adequately control ashovel or bucket with ease and without danger to himself, therebyeliminating the necessity for a number of workmen and avoidingconsiderable danger. Furthermore, experience has demonstrated that withthis structure, fully two-thirds again as much work can be accomplishedas with the machines having manually directed poles, for the engineer ofthe locomotive can open his throttle to the fullest extent, as soon asthe buckets are engaged with the soil, and even if obstructions are metwith, no damage will occur to the shovels or the associated mechanismfor the reasons above given. A still further and important feature ofthe invention resides in the fact that it can be employed as a spreader.After the cut is completed and ditched, the dirt carried therefrom, hasbeen deposited on the fill, so that the same is rough, making itnecessary to spread the material or level it down. The present machinecan be employed for this purpose where heretofore it has been necessaryto carry a separate spreader with the ditching machine. In using themachine as a ditcher, all that is necessary is to release the handbrakes and lower the buckets to the desired elevation for spreading. Thelocomotive is backed up and the machine is then taken over the fill,which levels the surface at a distance from the tracks 2. The bucketsare then drawn alongside the car by passing the grade chains 2i aroundthe uprights 8 of the main frame and hooking them up short. The resultis that when the buckets are lowered, they will. be drawn in close tothe ends of the ties and upon moving the machine again over the fill,the dirt in close proximity to the ends'of the ties will be spread. Itmay be necessary to go over the fill once more as first mentioned inorder to effectively complete the work particularly where an extra widefill has been made, but in a great number of instances, a singleoperation has been found sufficient.

From the foregoing, it is thought that the construction, operation, andmany advantages of the herein described invention will be apparent tothose skilled in the art, without further description, and it will beunderstood that various changes in the size, shape, proportion, andminor details of construction, may be resorted to without departing fromthe spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new, anddesire to secure by Letters Patent, is:-

1. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination with ashovel, of means for elevating the same, draft mechanism for the shovel,and upwardly extending longitudinally movable guiding means for theshovel that permits the sidewise or substantially horizontal swinging ofsaid shovel.

2. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination with ashovel, of means for elevating the same, draft mechanism for the shovel,and longitudinally mov able guiding means for the shovel having a hingedconnection therewith that permits the sidewise swinging of said shovel.

3. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination with ashovel, of means for elevating the same,

draft mechanism for the shovel, and swinging guiding means for theshovel having a universal joint connection therewith.

i. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination with a car,of a shovel associated therewith, draftmeans connecting the car andshovel, means mounted on the car for elevating and lowering the shovel,and up \vardly extending means longitudinally slidable'on the car forguiding the shovel and permitting its sidewise or substantiallyhorizontal swinging movement.

5. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination withashovel, of a guide element, and a guide stem connected to the shoveland slidably engaging the guide element.

6. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination with ashovel, of a guide collar, and a guide stem connected to the shovel andslidably passing through the collar.

7. In a machine of the character set forth. the combi nation with ashovel, of a pivotally mounted guide element, and a swinging guide stemconnected to the shovel and slidably eng ng the guide element.

8. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination with asupport, of a yoke pivotally mounted there on, a collar pivotally hungin .the yoke, a shovel, and a swinging guide stem connected to theshovel and slidably passing through the guide element.

9. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination with a car,of a shovel carried thereby, a stem slidably mounted on the car, and auniversal joint connection between the stem and shovel.

10. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination with a car,of a supporting frame mounted thereon, a yoke pivotally mounted in theframe, a collar pivotally hung in the yoke, a shovel, a stern having auniversal joint connection with the shovel and slidably mounted in thecollar. means for elevating and lowering the shovel, and draft means forsaid shovel.

11. In a machine of the character set forth, the combi nation with aSllOVOl, of cables connected to the shovel and simultaneously movable inopposite directions, and means for ellecting their simultaneousmovements.

12. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination with ashovel, of a guide, a stem connected to the shovel and slidably mountedin the guide, and means associated with the stem for controlling itssliding; movement in the guide.

13. In a machine of the cnaracter set forth, the combi nation with ashovel, of a stem connected thereto, and cables connected to the endportions of the stems for controlling itsmoi'ement. I

14. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination with ashovel, of a pivotally mounted guide collar, a swinging stem connectedto the shovel and slidably passing through the collar, and cablesconnected to the ends of the stem for controlling the movement thereofthrough the collar.

15. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination with ashovel, of cables connected to the shovel, and simultaneously movable inopposite directions, a rotary drum on which the cables are oppositelywound, and means for controlling the rotation of the drum.

16. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination with ashovel, of cables connected to the shovel, and simultaneously movable inopposite directions, a rotary drum on which the cables are oppositelywound, operating means for the drum geared thereto, and mechanism fordisassociating the operating means and the drum.

17, In a machine of the character set forth, the combi nation with ashovel, of cables connected to the shovel, and simultaneously movable inopposite directions, a ro tary drum on which the cables are oppositelywound, a hand wheel, gearing connecting the hand wheel and drum, andmeans for disconnecting the gearing to disassociate the hand wheel anddrum.

18. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination with asupporting frame, of a collar pivotally mounted thereon, a shovel, aguide stem pivoted to the shovel, and slidably mounted in the collar, adrum, cables oppositely wound on the drum and connected to the ends ofthe stem, a hand wheel, gearing connecting the hand wheel and the drum,and means for throwing the gearing into and out of mesh.

1!). In a machine of the character set forth, the combination with ashovel, of movable means for directing the shovel, said means includinga safety holding member for maintaining the shovel in a predeterminedposition yet permitting its movement upon its encounter with an abnormalresistance.

U. In a machine of the character set forth, the combi nation with ashovel, of movable means for directing the shovel, said means includinga safety friction member for maintaining the shovel in a predeterminedposition yet permitting its movement upon its encounter with abnormalresistance.

21. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination with ashovel, of draft mechanism and raising and lowering means connected tothe shovel, and movable guide means for directing the shovel, said meansincluding a safety holding member for maintaining the shovel in apredetermined position yet permitting its movement upon its encounterwith abnormal resistance.

2. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination with ashovel, of a rotary member having a connection with the shovel, and aband brake for controlling the rotation of the member.

Z, In a machine of the character set forth, the combination with ashovel, of movable means for directing the shovel, said means includinga stem connected to the shovel, a rotary drum, a cable connectionbetween the stem and drum, and means for holding the drum againstrotation.

24. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination with ashovel, of movable means for directing the shovel, said lncans includinga longitudinally movable stem connected to the shovel, a rotary drum,cables con ncctcd to the stem and oppositely wrapped upon the drum, anda friction band brake for controlling the rotation of the drum.

. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination with a car,of a supporting frame mounted thereon, a shovel, means for raising andlowering the shovel, said means being mounted on the supporting frame, aguide carried by the supporting frame, a guide stem connected to theshovel and slidably engaged with the guide, cables con nected to theends of the stem, a drum upon which said cables are oppositely wrapped,a hand wheel having a geared connection with the drum, and a hand brakefor resisting the rotation of the drum.

26. In a machine of the character set forth, the combi nation with acar, of a supporting frame mounted on the car and including a cross bar,shovels located on opposite sides of the car, means mounted on the framefor raising and lowering the shovels, draft connections between the carand shovels, guide collars pivotally mounted on the ends of the crossbar. swinging stems having universal joint connections with the shovelsand slidably passing through the collars, drums journaled on thesupporting frame, cables wrapped upon the drums and connected to theends of the guide stems, hand wheels having geared connections betweenthe hand wheels and the drums, means for moving the gears into and outof mesh to disconnect the hand wheels from the drums, and band brakesfor controlling the movement of the drums, said band brakes includinglevers.

27. In a machine of the character set forth, the combination with ashovel, of a guide element, a stiff guide member connected to the shoveland slidably engaged with the guide element, said member constitutingmeans for directing the shovel, and means connected to the guide memberfor moving the same.

In testimony, that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have heretoatlixcd my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE CONRAD GRIFFIN.

Witnesses BILL IAnKnn,

G. A. FAULK.

